Last updated: June 07, 2021
Huge floats parade through the streets
The city of Ota is alive with parades of neputa—massive, illuminated floats with traditional imagery—for two days every August. Some of the neputa reach heights of more than 7 meters. Visitors can get close to the floats to better observe their intricate details. The festival pulses with the constant rhythm of taiko drums, including some that are more than 3 meters tall.
The Neputa Festival is a centuries-old tradition in Hirosaki, a city in Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan. The event spread to Gunma in 1986 when the town of Ojima (now part of Ota) established a sister city relationship with Hirosaki. The event has grown since then and now draws some 160,000 visitors.
Mid-August
